Ssnake

Never saw a T-72 wreck that had its engine shout out from it. Wouldn't know what to make from that description, as much as it may set your imagination on fire.

I liked it. It may not be chock full of tactical vignettes (though the assault on Jalibah Airfield seems to be a suitable basis for a Steel Beasts scenario) - but it was quite decent. Maybe not the least because they asked five guys for smaller stories than have one guy extend a small story to full book size.

The real Ssnake can look things like that up if he has enough time, but sometimes he hasn't, and then setting up a thread here is the best chance to help the customer the fastest.

me and a friend  both have the same version. However, whenever we try to play a co-op game together he can see me hosting but he cannot connect to the actual server.

(asking for a friend)

Maybe you can provide a link?

Otherwise I can only guarantee that probably nothing will be done about it.

That expectation is unrealistic. So far, we haven't been able to replicate the problem. Even then, the next question is if it could be replicated with sufficient reliability that it's worth a debugging attempt. I'm not saying that the problem doesn't exist. It's just hard for us to actually see it, and as long as we can't reproduce the behavior that you reported no attempt to actually fix it can be made. And then such a fix would need to be tested and verified, which would be the earliest moment that a roll-out could even be attempted.

And we won't release a patch for nothing but a single bug fix. There will be numerous other things that need to be reproduced, debugged, fixed, verified, and rolled into a new software release.

...or cut off the top of an empty cola can and put the resulting "hat" on the (target practice) round, for a really nice sound effect. Weeeeeeeeeee.....

1 hour ago, daskal said:

they said team building in the first place

Maybe it is "not entirely, irrersponsibly unsafe", but it's definitely something I wouldn't try if someone casually presented the idea to me. I guess it depends a lot on the amount of water that you fill in. I hope this has a really generous error margin because otherwise it'll work perfectly fine - until it fails in a really spectacular way.

You have mail.

😧

...overwhelming chances are, it's not because we don't want to. 95% of all incoming emails are being answered within 24 hours, the majority within 6 hours.

Most people contacting us - either directly by email, or by using our contact form sheet, supply only a single email address (more on that later). While the vast majority of email addresses supplied this way to us are correct, there's still a non-zero chance for a typo. We may be able to spot and correct such errors if they are in the second half of the address, e.g. @uotlook.com or @gnail.com - but whether you're tankmaster771 or tankmister717 we have little chance of guessing right.

Then there's spam filters. Corporate email addresses like to filter our messages because there's "games" in our name, others find the license ticket codes highly suspicious (only cyber criminals encrypt, there are no legitimate cases!). Whatever the cause, sometimes our replies and license tickets will be found in there. If you don't check there and rather assume the worst, chances are that our subsequent apologies get swallowed by the very same filter.

An all-time classic is the full mailbox. You don't receive your ticket - because the mailbox is full. You ask, where's my ticket, and never receive our reply - because the mailbox is full. You send us an angry letter demanding a refund and still don't get a reply? Maybe, just maybe, the mailbox is full. Who knows what other messages you missed, recently? You will never know.

This is why we think that it's a good idea to send us one alternative email address. We're not collecting such data because we want to trade with them. There simply needs to be an alternative communications channel so that we can actually get in contact with each other.

Yes, there are cases where we need a bit longer to reply. Someone might be sick, or traveling, or answering your question is unusually complex. Give us a day or two, then nudge us with a gentle reminder. Don't wait months. Try to supply us with additional info, like the date of a purchase or other relevant information.

All our emails to you are being bounced by your mail server with the rather unambiguous message:

Mailbox full

This probably explains everything.

Remedy: delete emails that are no longer needed, or switch from IMAP to POP3, or kindly provide us with an alternate email address like we asked for in the order form sheet.

"not" in what way?

10 hours ago, Jess said:

I just discovered this about a week ago and have laying through the tutorials included with the game for the M1A2.   I’ve also been watching the excellent videos in the sticky for beginners in this forum. 
 

Is the final mission included with the game intended to be very difficult?  I’m finding it quite difficult to react to contacts while all units are moving forward so quickly.

It is no accident to the extent that the complexity of such a step up in mission scope and responsibility naturally is a steep upward learning step - but we didn't make it "extra hard" with malicious deliberation.

Keep in mind, tank commanders usually receive about two years of training (one for basic tank soldiering, one to make a tank driver's license and then the Commander's course), and then an additional year or two to progress to the platoon leader position (if you're on the fast track of an officer's career, otherwise it might take six years or eight; of course that's not just all learning but also the practice of the art at all levels).

But if you find things progressing too fast: Hey, there's a Planning Phase, even when you run a tutorial mission. So, make a plan. Think of when you want which unit to move, and give their routes corresponding embark conditions. And of course you can always order units to move at slower speed (but then you'll be exposed longer to enemy fire). The M1s in the tutorial give you above average protection, and I think the enemy is somewhat undergunned, so the cards are still stacked in your favor. It may be better to stick in defilade for a minute longer to prepare for the next move, but then move quickly. And as always, practice makes perfect.

Case, hopefully, solved.

Fellow software developers: Don't run Steel Beasts while your debugger is open.

The CodeMeter runtime doesn't like that, and will lock the CodeMeter container in use.

But if it has happened: Send me a CmDUST log file and a license request file, and I'll unlock your CM stick again (until you test my patience doing the same mistake over and over, at which point I'll assume malicious intent, or trolling).

The thought has crossed our minds, but we have more urgent tasks at hand for development, and ... there are other, non-intuitive factors to be considered that complicate the decision-making process.

Rotary encoders.

2 hours ago, oakdesign said:

Having build some quite extended physical sim gear for flight sims that all provide some kind of interface to interface the sim with physical hardware would be great to have something like that in SB.

There is an API for that in SB Pro, just not in the Personal Edition.

2 hours ago, oakdesign said:

Maybe I'm missguided but haven't I read that 
 

Quote

buttons #1 (trigger), #2 (laser), #3 (see above), and #4 are hardcoded in SB Pro. Ideally your replica would conform to that wiring.

that isn't the case anymore?

We are using a new joystick library now, true; as far as I'm informed, the main advantage is that SB Pro no longer insists on input exclusively from the primary controller (ID 0). I'm not sure however whether our Controls dialog will actually register buttons #1...4 for reassignment. Maybe it does, but even then you probably will save yourself hassle if you connect these buttons on the grip with the controller button numbers that Steel Beasts expects.

What I can tell is that the resistance of handles (in real life) varies a lot. In the ASLAV-25, to name an example, they are a combination of hand hold and control handle, and therefore are very stiff. To operate them for an extended period you'll need to develop a lot of forearm strength.

In the Leopard 2, while in stabilized mode there is very little resistance. However, while in Emergency mode, in the Leopard 2A4 you would operate the hydraulic valves directly, so the stiffness becomes much higher; we try to replicate that in SB Pro by increasing the deadzone. Some people think that you can still control the turret with adequate precision in this mode; personally, I always preferred to use the hand cranks after getting the turret in the general direction of the target.

Specific advices:

Make the palm switch an actual switch in your replica (button #3), and not a circuit breaker, so that Steel Beasts can handle the signals adequately. You'll notice that joystick buttons #1 (trigger), #2 (laser), #3 (see above), and #4 are hardcoded in SB Pro. Ideally your replica would conform to that wiring.

Choose a somewhat universal grip design. Chances are, you won't be playing one specific tank in SB Pro, but a range of them, both as commander, gunner, and occasionally as a driver as well.

For the more modern tank designs, a universal trend is to put moar buttons on the control handles. CV90s have a three-way switch that is permanently giving a signal in one position to let you select the fire mode for 3P/KETF ammo. It's a relatively unique feature, but if you have it on your stick, the CV90's fire control system will suddenly make so much more sense.

Yeah... no maintenance, no gun cleaning, ... "just the fun parts".

Plus, the gift that keeps giving. LARS has been retired in the late 90s, but someone thought, rather than paying for the disposal of these munitions we might just as well fire the old 110mm rockts from the 227mm MLRS and save money. So, they bought adapters for millions.

Sounds not too bad yet?

Except, they never fired those rockets. Not only is their shelf life expired. They can't be safely disposed of because the rocket bodies are seeping explosives, so you can't pull them out of the storage racks without everything blowing up in your face.

🙄

Man, that thing was loud.

This is now bug #12284.